Riverbrian

I loved the article because I think about this a lot. I'm into stats but not so much from a projection standpoint. I think the mental part of the game is huge. Put yourself in Colabello's shoes. He's advanced in age so he will only get one or two windows. He has to prove himself with the clock ticking. He earned a major league uniform with his play in AAA but he only got that uniform when Plouffe was placed on the 7 day. He knows his primary skill is his ability to hit the ball a long way. You got 7 days to show something... You are facing the best pitchers in the world for the first time. He knows Morneau is the 1st baseman and he got a job with a 7 day expiration date. He gets 11 at bats and all he wants in life besides health for his family is to make an impression and stay in the majors and... And... His primary skill is hitting the long ball. When you consider all of that... I don't care what age you are... How do you not try to hit a 5 run homer every time you step up to the plate. The coaches will tell him... "Relax it will come" but you are trying to prove you belong and they didn't bring you up to walk or bloop singles. It's my guess why rookies struggle. They are trying to prove they belong. And its hard to prove it by drawing a walk. You gotta be aggressive defensively and on the base paths. But... At the plate... You have to relax. If you don't relax... You swing at crap and if you swing at crap... You hit like crap. If Colabello is given the chance to relax and he actually does relax... He could turn into something and i'm pulling for him. My guess is... His AAA numbers are an example of a relaxed hitter. A guy with a job and a few cookies to swing at. No guaranteed job and less cookies makes it hard.

With my love of speed and defense... I have a feeling I'm gonna be a huge Buxton Fan down the road. Hicks... I can see him being my favorite this year. I hope he finds it this year because this team really needs him.

Signing Suzuki was necessary. I hope Pinto does great but it's been one good September thus far. Go with the Vet and let Pinto run him over eventually. Pinto can use a little seasoning in AAA... If he cooks on the farm. He'll be the starter very soon.

I didn't even know "Dubiousity" was a word. Thank You... I'm gonna use that word whenever I can. The value of TD has just been illustrated.

Yeah I do have the ability to make money by being annoying. "Here's ten bucks if you go stand over there". On a side note... In the news right now... Grand Rapids Michigan for the past 38 years had a city law making it illegal to be annoying. Under advice from the city attorney they recently reversed it and you can now legally be annoying in Grand Rapids.

Actually I've been abducted in the Congo. They got my wallet and passport and I need $5,000 to get home. Send all aid to ChiTown... She is handling the negotiations with the Bambuti.

I figured so... The radar looks like it's going to put a chokehold on Ft. Myers.

Hicks is great... I don't want to downplay is skill at all. But yeah... Revere was as good as I've seen in quite sometime. Not counting arm of course. Hicks has every tool. Once he decides he is a defensive superstar... He will be. If Buxton is supposed to better than Hicks... OMG... The OF D in the future is going to be worth the price of admission.

Looking at the score... My mind is imagining terrible thinks.

My Wife does and she doesn't even use the HD channels. I don't know what bugs me more... The fact that she watches the show or the fact that she refuses to watch it in HD.

Hey all... I apologize for not putting a game thread up but thanks to ChiTown the magnificent for getting it up. I just got home from work and my wife is watching American Idol and the remote is tightly gripped. I could over power her but I think that'd be a bad idea. So I'm trying to imagine the Twins on my mind.

I have no idea what is happening in the clubhouse. I just know what I saw in 2013 on the field. In 2013... I don't believe that Twins fans got full value of the tickets they purchased. I don't believe they got 100% from all members of the squad and 100% should be implied in the price of the ticket. Make a play... You are good enough to make the majors... You are good enough to make a play!!! 2013 was non aggressive base running... get out of the way of the turning double play... station to station baseball. 2013 was make the routine defensive play and that's it!!! Apart from 2B and SS... I have no complaints watching Florimon and Dozier do what they did with the glove and arm. 2013 was Non Focused unprepared for the pitcher tendencies plate appearances... Hitting the pitchers pitch instead of your pitch... Throwing away at bats and walking back to the dugout wondering what happened. I have no idea what is happening in the dugout but I assume based on the lolligagging nature of what I watched in 2013. Tude needs to be addressed. Go get em Gardy. If the Tude gets better... The Stats get better and the Wins get better. If the Tude doesn't get better. Get new players.

I should stay away from this thread... But... Too late now... I'm posting. I think Plouffe has a ton of potential.. I think he's at least 30 HR power and I think he's at least .270 BA... I also think he could play better defense and even play it well above average. He simply frustrates me more than any other Twin because I really believe he could be everything I think he could be. He needs to start getting more aggressive on D and less aggressive on O. Until he does... He's gonna bug me. I absolutely believe the Twins should have brought in 3B competition this year just to push him. Sano getting hurt really sucks.

Some are just unjustifiably high period. Where is my friend Bark today?

We all need that... Oh... Wait... You were talking about... Never mind.

Or if you lost your legs in an unfortunate farming accident while wearing a real tall hat.

Caption Contest Hey, who tipped the factory over? And how did they tip the factory over? Or Ok... That concludes this round. Team Six is leading the way with 12.

Did you intend for those asterisks to be arranged so they are almost anatomically correct? I'll ban myself for 24 hours

Twins: SP Who cares he's only going to throw an inning or Two Starting Lineup: Some Players but they will get taken out before the game is over. Red Sox: Same Thing as the Twins... Herman's Hermits... 2nd Verse same as the first!!! Things to think about: 1. Its pre-season... Time to practice and improve to get ready for the season. It's the same thing for the game threads... A winter of rust to shake off. We can't be expected to just hit the ground running and be in mid-season form. 2. Polar Vortex... You know its a bad winter when they come up with a new term to add to our language. I'm sure the term has been around for the while but they didn't bring it to top of the mind until people in Atlanta felt kinda chilly. 3. Ft. Myers... Spring training home of the Twins and Red Sox. I'm sure those Bostonians think they own Ft. Myers but they don't. Ft. Myers is Twins Territory. Think of it this way... There are way more babies born in Ft. Myers that are Twins than babies born with Red Sox. 4. Ft. Myers... The forecast calls for 84 degrees today... Where I live... The forecast calls for a high of 6 below... Yeah... I'm thinking real hard about Ft. Myers!!! 5. Me... I've been waiting all winter for the first coverage of Twins baseball and my schedule is jammed. I gotta post the game thread early. Record the game for watching later and I can't participate in the game thread because I'm booked on a Saturday of all days. Does anyone feel bad for me? Have fun... Everyone is welcome to participate. For anyone new or old... The game thread is like a bunch of people in the LF bleachers watching the game... Talking about the game or anything else on their mind and we mean anything... Jump in feet first and have fun. It's not an exclusive club... It's all inclusive... Some of us may dominate the conversation. That's cause we are loud mouths and I mean that respectfully. Get loud with us and we won't be so dominate. No arguing is about the only rule we follow and that's because nobody finds that fun. We are all about fun and friendship. If someone takes a jab at you... Assume its in fun because it probably is. Oh yeah... And stay away from those 7 words in the George Carlin bit!!! Try for PG-13. I'll try get a pre-season game thread up for all televised games.

Segura... No doubt... You can always draft OF

Trout and Miggy are top two and number three is a ways back. SP: Kershaw is the only SP worth considering in the first round. Biggest Risk: Any of the position scarce guys. C-2B-3B and SS. They tend to be taken earlier than they produce. Ian Desmond leaps to mind. Best Value: I agree with Cashner... Kinda agree with Belt... But I will not chase Chase. I will add Wacha to the value picks along with Willin Rosario and Iwakuma. Rookie: Bogaarts for sure... At least I hope so... I got him and I'm keeping him. I'm thinking Taijuan Walker will break camp and perform for Seattle. Wong and D'Arnaud might be worth a flyer. I like Taveras and Sano but we may have wait longer for them. Things to Watch: Braun... Will the lack of steroids curb his production? Cano... Out of New York into Seattle. Goldschmidt... Could he do it again? Stanton... When will Stanton become Stanton?

I'm a Pinto Fan... His defense doesn't freak me out. He'll be alright and I'm a big catcher D guy. I'm just in caution mode over a nice September. Parmelee had a nice September once as well. I'd like him to hit well at AAA a bit before giving him the reins.

Saul... I won't be able to.

It better be Hammer!!!

I love this thread!!! Carry on!!!